Sandra Cobena · TranslatePolitics.ca

Statements by Members

100th Birthday Congratulations

2026-06-17

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, 100 years is a century of memories, service and stories. In Newmarket—Aurora, we are preparing to celebrate a very special milestone as our friend and local Second World War veteran Mr. Jeffrey Reynolds turns 100 years old on June 29. At just 18 years old, he enlisted in the North Staffordshire Regiment, joining a generation that answered the call when freedom itself was under threat. Like so many who served, Jeff rarely speaks about his sacrifices. Instead, he is full of stories of growing up as a young boy, stories that remind us how much the world has changed over the last century and stories that connect us to a generation whose sacrifices shaped the country we know today. Turning 100 years old is an extraordinary achievement, but it also carries even greater meaning when that life was dedicated to serving others before it had fully begun. I ask all members of the House to join me in wishing Jeffrey Reynolds a very happy 100th birthday.

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Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-06-08

“The government keeps saying it saved money. But there's no savings at all. They're hiding how much all their promises will really cost. It's going to be way more expensive than they admit.”

“The government taxes businesses too much. That makes it hard for young people to find jobs. I want the government to stop forcing businesses to pay so much and controlling them so much.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, one of my priorities is to be the voice of the youth who are struggling today. As I mentioned before, it is quite concerning for them because of how critical that first job is. They are looking for these jobs in all sorts of industries, but we are seeing that business investment has fallen for five consecutive quarters and that more businesses are shutting down than opening up. Retail, which is one of the largest employers for our youth, is being hit particularly hard. There is no initiative right now from the government to actually remove some of the barriers that these businesses are challenged with, when it comes to overtaxation, over-regulation and actually being able to expand their business.

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“I'm telling a sad personal story about young people who can't find jobs. I want you to feel bad for them. Young people need more help from the government.”

“Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. The numbers are bad. The government keeps spending and making excuses. It's their fault. I want the government to stop spending so much. They should cancel their expensive programs. Canadians are struggling. My riding is struggling. I want lower spending and more growth.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today in support of this motion because it tells the truth about what the Liberals have done to this country. The reality is that Canada is in a recession. This is not a slowdown. This is not a rough patch. It is a recession. In fact, it is the only country in a recession in the G20. Canadians in Newmarket—Aurora are living it every day. They are paying more for groceries. They are watching their mortgage payments climb. They are wondering whether their kids will be able to afford a home in the community they grew up in. They are asking a simple question: How did it come to this? The answer is 11 years of poor Liberal policies and spending without limits. The numbers do not lie. Scotiabank has downgraded Canada's growth to 0.8% this year, and the Bank of Montreal has downgraded Canada's growth to 0.5% this year. Then, there is the Parliamentary Budget Officer, an independent, non-partisan officer of this Parliament, and her latest report does not mince words. There is slowing growth, a weakening fiscal outlook and a deficit that is bigger than promised. The probability of the government meeting its own fiscal anchor is 1%. Let us remember that this is after the government chose to give up the last fiscal anchor it also could not meet. If a student handed in a business plan with a 1% chance of success, they would fail the course. If a CEO presented a strategy with a 1% chance of meeting its targets, the board would show them the door. However, the government members stand here and ask Canadians to trust them with the national finances, with a 1% chance of keeping their own promises. Let us not forget they revised this fiscal anchor after they already failed to meet their last one. I should mention I am splitting my time. The government will stand and say this is all external, that it is caused by global headwinds, tariff uncertainty, forces beyond its control. Canadians have heard that before. They heard it when inflation hit 40‑year highs. They heard it when housing costs skyrocketed. They heard it when the debt doubled. There is always an excuse from the Liberal government. There is never accountability. Here is what it cannot explain away: Every other G20 country is growing. Canada is an outlier. Canada is the exception. Even Mexico, which also shares a border with the U.S. and has been significantly impacted by tariffs, has managed to steer clear of a recession. When we are the only country in the world's 20 largest economies to be in a recession, that is a local policy problem. Still, the Liberal government has chosen to respond with more of the same: denial, increased spending, higher taxes, more regulation and more debt. It continues to choose to make life more expensive for the very Canadians who were already stretched to the limit. I want to speak directly to what this means to the families I represent in Newmarket—Aurora. I heard from a young couple, both working, both doing everything right, who cannot afford a down payment because their rent has eaten up every dollar they saved. I heard from a small business owner on Davis Drive who is watching her customer base shrink because people simply do not have money left over at the end of the month. I heard from a senior on a fixed income who never thought he would have to choose between his bills and groceries. This is deeply concerning for me because my own grandfather lives in Aurora and we have this conversation all too often. Seniors, who spent their entire life working hard, who gave it their all, are now on a fixed income and have to make these impossible choices. They are not statistics. They are neighbours and friends. They are family members, in fact. They deserve a government that is honest about the damage that it has caused and is serious about fixing it. This motion calls for exactly that. Today's motion does not ask the impossible. It does not ask the government to undo every mistake overnight. It asks for something straightforward: reverse the costly inflationary policies that brought Canada to this point; stop the reckless spending that drives up debt and keeps interest rates higher for longer; stop layering on new taxes and new regulatory burdens on businesses that are trying to hire, invest and grow; and stop the costly credit card budgeting that future generations will be asked to pay for. On this point, I had a discussion with a group of youth just a few weeks back. They told me they felt like they were on a bus where the driver did not care about the passengers and did not care about the direction that the passengers wanted to go in. They felt that they were the passengers, because the government was driving them into incredible amounts of debt that they would eventually inherit. The government can start with its $750-million gun grab, the $90-billion train or the $25 billion of debt it will be taking on for the so-called sovereign wealth fund or the $20 billion on consultants. Those are just to name a few. I am talking about Canada's conditions for real, sustainable growth, not politically convenient announcements, but the kind of economic environment where businesses expand, investors can invest, workers earn more and businesses can actually get ahead. Today's motion is simple. It is honest. It is necessary. Canada is in a recession, the only country in the G20. The banks have downgraded growth projections. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has sounded the alarm. The numbers do not lie, even when the government's talking points are trying to obscure them. Conservatives will always stand on the side of fiscal responsibility, economic growth and the hard-working Canadians who deserve a government that respects every hard-earned dollar that they make, and to work as hard as they do. With that, I urge all members of this chamber to support this motion.

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Oral Questions

The Economy

2026-06-08

“The economy is terrible. Canadians are losing jobs and businesses. I want the Prime Minister to admit this recession is real, not just numbers on paper.”

“I want to blame the governing party for a recession. I want the government to be more fiscally responsible.”

Oral Questions

The Economy

2026-06-04

“The Prime Minister spends your money on luxury flights and fancy food. But Canadians struggle to buy groceries. The economy is weak. Only his friends get bonuses. Why doesn't the Prime Minister make sacrifices too? Do as I say, not as I do.”

“The other party spends too much money. They can't control even their own small expenses. How can we trust them to fix the whole country's money problems? Maybe this is not their problem.”

Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-06-02

“The Prime Minister won't admit there's a problem. He gives big speeches but ignores what people are actually living through. It doesn't match what he promised. He's out of touch.”

“I want to sell my party's policies. I'm repeating a list of our ideas from before. The government should use our ideas.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. Part of drafting a solution is actually acknowledging the problem, which is what the Liberal government is failing to do. The Conservatives put forward practical ideas more than a year ago, and I provided a list, which I will repeat: the Canadian sovereignty act, the removal of the industrial carbon tax, the removal of the HST on all new homes worth up to $1.3 million, shovel-ready project zones and the capital gains deferral so we can kick-start our economy and bring wealth home to our people. In fact, we had provided a plan for the first 100 days to set the tone on energy, crime, competitiveness and affordability. This is the plan the Conservatives have put forward and have been advocating for.

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“I'm talking about statistics. Our economy shrank three out of four quarters. Canada is the only G7 country in a recession. We have the worst household debt, housing costs, and second-highest unemployment in the G7. You deny this is happening. You aren't going to fix this problem.”

“Canada has a lot of good things going for it, but the Liberal government's policies are holding us back. They make a lot of announcements but don't follow through with action. We need the government to get serious and make real changes to boost our economy.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, there are moments in the life of a country when people stop asking for promises and start asking for honesty, and this is one of those moments. Canadians are not confused about what is happening around them. They see it every day, with their bills, when they put groceries back on the shelf or when their adult children move back home because even full-time work no longer guarantees independence. They know something is wrong. What makes it worse is that they are being told not to believe their very own eyes. The Liberal government says that the economy is not in a recession and that affordability has not been this good in 10 years, but Canadians know the truth because they are living the truth. The truth is that under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada has become the only country in a recession in the G7. The truth is that Canadian households now carry the worst debt burden in the G7. The truth is that housing costs in Canada are now among the worst in the industrialized world. The truth is that our unemployment rate is now the second-highest in the G7. This did not happen by accident. Policies have consequences. The Liberal government has governed as though debt were imaginary, as though growth would somehow appear without productivity and as though governments can endlessly spend money they do not have without asking working people to eventually carry the cost, but Canadians are carrying the cost. They carry it every time their rent goes up, every time interest rates rise and mortgages are up for renewal and every time they hear another announcement from a government that mistakes press conferences for progress. The Prime Minister likes to say that Canada will move at speeds not seen in generations. I will say, when Canadians first heard those words, they wanted to believe them. Now, after more than a year of this government, the results have not matched the rhetoric. The Liberal recession means declining growth. It means our economy is shrinking. It means Canada is not moving at speeds not seen in generations. It means Canada is falling behind. This is not just a criticism but the reality that Canadians are living with and that businesses are responding to. The Prime Minister is travelling the world trying to sell Canada to investors, while blowing $200,000 on inflight catering over three flights, but what is he selling? He is selling a Canada where major projects still take too long and approvals are uncertain, a Canada where the tanker ban remains in place and Bill C-69 continues to scare away billions of dollars in investment, a Canada where housing starts are not rising at speeds not seen in generations but slowing to a pace not seen in generations. We hear members opposite boast about the Prime Minister's résumé, but a fancy résumé does not matter to investors looking for opportunities in a business-friendly environment. In fact, in 2025, 45% of all foreign direct investment into Canada, or $44 billion, consisted of foreign purchasers buying up Canadian businesses rather than building new facilities or expanding productive capacity. Canada used to build national champions, but increasingly, we are selling them. We do not need better marketing. We need a Canada that is actually open for business. We have energy, critical minerals, the workers, the talent and the geography. We have people who are hungry to build, to work, to invest and to grow. What we do not have yet is a government creating the conditions for investor confidence. The Liberal government has given itself extraordinary powers. It has the Major Projects Office. It has given itself a majority government through dirty backroom deals, so it should have the ability to move. Where are the major projects? Where is the urgency to meet this moment? The Liberals talk about unleashing Canadian energy, but the tanker ban remains. They talk about building homes, but housing construction in the GTA and in Vancouver has collapsed, and 100,000 people are now out of work. They talk about mines, manufacturing and productivity, but the regulatory reform needed to restore investor confidence is still not there. They talk about moving quickly, but Canadians keep seeing the same pattern: announcement first, action later and, too often, action never. Should we really be surprised? The Prime Minister is surrounded by the same Liberal team that delivered the last decade. He can steal our ideas, but does he really believe in them? We know the team around him is not willing to do what it takes to fully implement those ideas and restore Canada's economy, so Canadians are stuck with the same Liberal pattern: announcement followed by failure to follow through. Conservatives put forward practical ideas more than a year ago, such as the Canadian sovereign act, the removal of industrial carbon tax, the removal of HST on all new homes worth up to $1.3 million, shovel-ready project zones and capital gains deferrals so we can kick-start our economy and bring wealth home for our people. In the last election, we laid out an ambitious agenda for the first 100 days to set the tone on energy, crime, competitiveness and affordability, because urgency matters. Now, more than a year later, only a tiny sliver of that vision has been implemented, and the Liberals are wondering why things have not changed. The Liberals dismissed most of those ideas, and then they copied them halfway and failed in the implementation. The ideas that would have had the biggest impact are still sitting on the sidelines. Half measures will not reverse a lost decade. Yes, Canada faces challenges with the U.S., and trade uncertainty is real, but Canada is not the only country facing those challenges. Still, the government wants to blame every failure on geography. On the one hand, the Prime Minister says Canada has the best trade deal with the U.S. of any country in the world and says he wants to help make America great again. On the other hand, he blames our proximity to the United States for our lack of growth and says there is a permanent rupture in our relationship. Which is it? The truth is that Canada has what the world wants, but the world is not yet convinced that the Liberal government will do what is necessary to unlock it. Let us think about this. Oil prices have soared, yet Canada is still in a recession. We have the best free trade agreement with the U.S., yet Canada is still in a recession. We have the critical minerals the world needs, yet Canada is still in a recession. As I sit in the House, all I hear from the Liberal benches is deflection after deflection and excuse after excuse. They need to wake up and take responsibility. This is not simply something that is happening to Canada. It is a result of slow execution and weak confidence in a government that confuses announcements with achievements. When will the Liberals realize that the cause of the recession is not Canada or Canadians but them and their failed policies? Canadians do not need more hollow speeches. We need ambition in law, in approvals, in construction, in energy, in mining, in manufacturing and in paycheques. We need a government that passes laws and delivers results because the problem is not that Canada lacks potential. The problem is that the Liberal government has not yet had the courage or the urgency to move beyond announcements, get serious about implementation and finally unleash our economy.

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Oral Questions

The Economy

2026-06-02

“The Liberals can't manage the economy now, so why trust their future promises? Canada should be thriving but it's the only G7 country in recession.”

“Why is Canada the only G7 country in a recession? I say it's the Prime Minister's fault, not the world's.”

Statements by Members

The Economy

2026-06-01

“Canada's economy is struggling and people are suffering. The Prime Minister is out of touch. Conservatives want to reduce taxes and regulation to get the economy moving.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Canada has entered a recession, the only country in the G7 to do so. Our economy has shrunk three out of the past four quarters, but what does this mean? This means jobs are at risk, paycheques do not go as far, housing is out of reach and one in four Canadians are now food-insecure. We have neighbours who are saying that they are leaving our country in search of better opportunities elsewhere, yet, this Liberal Prime Minister says that affordability is the best it has been in a decade. I hate to break it to him, but Canadians do not get to blow $200,000 worth of inflight catering on the taxpayer credit card like he does. Canadians deserve fiscal responsibility today, where every tax dollar taken from them is respected. Conservatives are committed to cutting taxes, removing red tape and ending wasteful spending to finally get Canada building, hiring and growing.

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Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-05-28

“I know an entrepreneur who tried to sell to Europe. They were the same quality and price as an American company. But they lost the contract. The buyer said Canada is hard to do business with. That's why they bought from the American company instead of the Canadian one.”

“I don't like how you framed that question. That framing is unacceptable. This is not about American companies. This is about Canadian creators and artists. I want investment and opportunity for Canadians and Canadian content. I want that chance for Canadian creators and artists. It does not matter where the investment comes from.”

“I'm connected to the film industry. I've financed projects. Filmmakers want opportunity and investment. This levy will chase away investment and shrink the industry. It won't help.”

“Canadians are struggling with rising costs. The CRTC tripled the streaming tax from 5% to 15%. This hurts ordinary Canadians, not wealthy corporations. It makes Canada an expensive and unpredictable place for streaming companies to invest and create jobs. This could drive away production studios and make it harder for our arts and culture sector to compete. The tax is unconstitutional - the CRTC doesn't have the right to impose it without Parliament's approval. The Liberal government should reject this decision that will make life more expensive for Canadians.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of Canadians who feel that every month brings yet another bill. However, they cannot afford it. Canadians are tired of opening their bills and finding them higher than the last month. Families are tightening their belts, reducing subscriptions, delaying purchases and working overtime, yet somehow their bills keep growing and they cannot get ahead. What frustrates Canadians most is that so many of these rising costs are not accidents. They are policy choices. Today, we are talking about the CRTC's decision to triple the streaming tax from 5% to 15% on online platforms like Netflix, Spotify, YouTube and others. However, let us be honest about what this really is. This is another example of a government and its agencies believing they know better than Canadians how Canadians should spend their own money. Let us be clear about what just happened. On May 21, the CRTC announced it was tripling the levy on online streamers, not increasing it modestly, not adjusting it to inflation, but tripling it, going from 5% to 15% in one announcement. Here is what makes that even more remarkable: The original 5% levy has not even cleared the courts yet. Streamers launched legal challenges against the original rate, challenges that are still before the courts today. The CRTC has not collected a single dollar from those original obligations, so what did the CRTC do? It tripled it anyway. That is a government agency operating without discipline, without accountability and without any apparent concern for the consequences its decisions have on real Canadians. Let us talk about those consequences. When we triple the tax on online streaming services, we do not hurt Netflix shareholders. We do not inconvenience executives in California. We do not stress out shareholders or investors. It is the single mother in Aurora, using Netflix at the end of a long day with her kids. It is the senior in Newmarket who cancelled cable years ago because streaming was more affordable. It is a young couple already wondering how they are going to manage rising rent and grocery prices in the dimming dreams of starting a family. For many Canadians, streaming is no longer a luxury. It is one of the few affordable forms of entertainment left. The government talks constantly about affordability. The Prime Minister himself campaigned on it, yet here we are: another tax, another cost, another burden placed on the backs of Canadians who are already carrying too much. Let us not pretend that this is the only one. It is the latest, in fact, in a long list of punitive measures from the Liberal government that, together, are squeezing Canadians in every direction. The cumulative weight of all these decisions lands on a family's kitchen table, and they feel it. Now let me turn to the longer-term damage, because this is where it truly gets serious. When we triple the tax on online streaming services, Canada becomes one of the most expensive operating jurisdictions in the entire world for streaming services; not the most expensive in the G7, not among the most expensive in the western world, but among the most expensive on earth. What does that signal to investors? What does that say to a company sitting in a boardroom in Los Angeles, London or Seoul, deciding where to put its next production studio, its next animation facility or its next regional headquarters? It says Canada is expensive. It says Canada is unpredictable. Canada is harder to do business in. I want to give the House a concrete example of exactly what is at stake here, because I think sometimes these debates can feel abstract. Let me make it tangible. Netflix recently opened Netflix Animation Studios in Vancouver. That facility created more than 450 good-paying jobs. It brought significant investment to British Columbia. It put Canadian artists, animators and storytellers to work doing world-class creative work right here at home. That is exactly the kind of investment we should be encouraging. That is exactly the kind of economic activity we should be competing to attract. The Online Streaming Act, combined with this triple levy, sends precisely the opposite message. It tells companies like Netflix to think twice before they build something here and to think twice before they hire here. If a company succeeds in Canada, we will tax it for it. That is devastating, not just for Vancouver and Toronto but for every Canadian who works in the film and television industry, and for every community that benefits from that investment. There is then the trade dimension. This may be the most reckless aspect of all. When one triples the tax on online streaming services, it is not in isolation. We are in the middle of a critical review of CUSMA, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. Our trading relationship with the U.S. is under more scrutiny than it has been in a generation. The Trump administration has been clear and consistent. It views the Online Streaming Act as a trade irritant. This is not speculation. This is not opposition talking points. The Americans have said so directly and repeatedly. Just recently, the United States Ambassador to Canada stated, and I am going to be careful to represent this accurately, that the “CRTC’s decision to triple the tax rate on leading streaming services is making a bad situation worse”, that it targets and taxes American companies, puts up new discriminatory trade barriers and worsens the investment climate for American businesses. That is a warning. What is the Carney Liberal government's response? Its response is silence, indifference and a shrug. At the exact moment when Canada needs to be demonstrating to our largest trading partner that we are a serious, reliable and competitive economy, the government is escalating a fight that nobody in the country asked for over a policy that helps nobody in the country. That is negligence. I want to address something directly because I know that the government will raise it. When one triples the tax on online streaming services, it is a tax on investment in the arts and culture. Conservatives believe in Canadian culture and have defended it for a decade, over a decade, from Liberal postnational attacks. We believe in Canadian artists, storytellers and creators. We are proud of what the country produces in music, film, television and literature. That pride is real and it is not a partisan position. It belongs to us all. One does not strengthen Canadian culture by punishing investment. One does not support Canadian creators by driving away the platforms and production companies that employ them. One does not build a vibrant, creative economy by making Canada one of the most expensive places in the world to operate a streaming service. Real support for Canadian culture means creating conditions where great Canadian content can be made, can find an audience and can compete with the best in the world on its merits. It does not mean turning a government agency into an Internet czar that picks winners and losers, removes choice from viewers and tells Canadians what they should be watching. That is not cultural policy. That is paternalism and Canadians deserve better. Let me say something about the constitutional dimensions, as well. For over 800 years, the parliamentary tradition we have inherited, the tradition that is the foundation of this very institution, has been clear. The power to tax belongs to Parliament, not to agencies and regulators, not to appointed officials who are not accountable to the people of this country at the ballot box. The CRTC does not have a mandate from Canadians to triple a levy on streaming services. It was not elected and cannot be defeated at the polls, yet here it is making decisions with real tax consequences for millions of Canadians. The Prime Minister and the Liberal government must reject this decision.

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